Third arrest over fatal 'street race' crash

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Police have arrested a third teenager in relation to the crash that left a 22-year-old Auckland man dead.

Shaun FitzPatrick, 22, died when a stolen Subaru Forrester T-boned his car at the intersection of Carbine Rd and the South Eastern Highway just before 3am on Saturday.

Police say the teenage driver of the stolen car crashed into FitzPatrick's car after running a red light during an alleged street race in Mt Wellington.

Officers earlier charged a 15-year-old with dangerous driving causing death while a 17-year-old who was seriously injured in the accident was charged with unlawfully getting into a car.

Detective Senior Sergeant John Sutton said today police had now also charged another 17-year-old with dangerous driving.

Sutton said the teenager was driving a white car seen going through the intersection just moments before the accident.

Police had appealed for the car's occupants to come forward and had found and interviewed three people from that vehicle, resulting in the arrest.

Investigators were still searching for the occupants of a green car, possibly an early 1990s, model Toyota Corolla, which picked up possible witnesses around 500 metres from the scene of the accident minutes after it happened.

Police did not know if this vehicle was involved in the race but urged them to come forward.

Yesterday, FitzPatrick's father posted an emotional message to his dead son.

The victim's father, Kevin FitzPatrick, wrote a message to his "beautiful, glorious boy" on his Facebook page.

"I am completely distraught as can be imagined.

"Shaun, I am sure that you knew how much I loved you, despite our occasional differences, and how totally proud you made me as you matured into a magnificent young man.

"You will live on within us forever, forever young, and I will mourn daily the unfulfilled promise of what you would have been."

FitzPatrick had been driving home after meeting a friend when the accident occurred.

The driver of the Subaru allegedly sped through a red light, hitting Fitzpatrick's car as he came through the intersection on a green light.

The force of the collision crushed Fitzpatrick's Honda Civic against a lamp post.

He died at the scene.

FitzPatrick's friends had been gearing up to see him drive for the first time in the CannonBall Run in Auckland yesterday, an event that allows amateur racers to hit the streets of Auckland.